Google co-founder Sergey Brin starts blogging at Too

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin became the first of the powerful triumvirate that runs the Internet search giant to start a personal blog for public consumption. He calls it Too.

Google confirms that this is the real Brin, not a fake one, a la Steve Jobs a.k.a. Dan Lyons. And that much is apparent from the very first post, which explains the blog’s name: ‘Welcome to my personal blog. While Google is a play on googol, too is a play on the much smaller number -- two. It also means ‘in addition,’ as this blog reflects my life outside of work.’

In his second post, he struck a more serious note. Through 23andMe, the genetics testing start-up co-founded by his pregnant wife, Anne Wojcicki, he learned that he is more likely than the average person to develop Parkinson’s Disease. (In fact, his interest in Parkinson’s introduced him to Wojcicki.)

The blog post is named after the gene, LRRK2, that carries a mutation called G2019S. Brin’s mother and her aunt have Parkinson’s, and his family is devoting quite a bit of energy and money to research into the disease. Knowing that he is at risk will help him take steps that could mitigate that risk, such as exercising, which may protect against Parkinson’s, Brin said.

‘I feel fortunate to be in this position. Until the fountain of youth is discovered, all of us will have some conditions in our old age, only we don’t know what they will be,’ he wrote. ‘I have a better guess than almost anyone else for what ills may be mine -- and I have decades to prepare for it.’

Becoming a celebrity blogger is a deft move for Brin, who, with his vast wealth and fame, will easily draw attention to things that matter to him. It’s something that he has also done as the co-founder of Google.

Unlike other bloggers, he’s not necessarily interested in a lot of feedback. Try posting a comment and you will receive the following message: ‘While I would like to receive and post many insightful comments, realistically I am unlikely to be able to read through all of them and may accept very few or none at all. Thank you for your understanding.’

Brin’s blog was first discovered by TechCrunch.

-- Jessica Guynn

Top: screen shot of Brin’s blog.

Bottom: Sergey Brin, left, and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press